Harry Nicholson
16th December 2006, 21:06
Ken Carr, now in Perth, WA. has asked me to post this for him. It is a piece he has written about his trips as electrician on the Mahanada.
(Ken and I sailed together on her in 1957.)
SS MAHANADA
After completing five deep sea voyages and many coasting trips between June 1957 & August 1959 as ships Electrician I got to know the Mahanada rather well, a wonderful and exceptionally reliable old ship. In all the voyages I made on her I can only recall one major break down causing loss of time, the Tail End Shaft / Bearing ran out and started to leak rather badly in the middle of the Western Ocean this of course slowed us down considerably, eventually we discharged the cargo in the Southern States and dry docked in Mobile; fitted the spare Tail End Shaft no problems, off we go. I have noted a few comments in Nostalgia that Brocks run was rather poor, I completely disagree so lets do a trip:
First port was nearly always Port Said, ah yes the bum-boats, the search light just to make sure we did not take a short-cut, thence into the Red Sea to Jeddah, half the crew take leave to visit Mecca, In every visit to this Port we always had problems with the fridge system, the brine room always developed an ammonia leak? This had absolutely nothing to do with Jeddah being a dry port,..??. Next, Port Sudan , Massawa, Djibouti, all places of great interest and different cultures, also very warm indeed, and so to Aden, usually for only a few short hours whilst taking bunkers, a little shopping perhaps, a top class German camera? A Swiss watch complete with an inca block wow and all at duty free prices. Next, the most interesting and beautiful places on earth the Seychelles Islands, wonderful friendly happy people visit some of the surrounding Islands; Praslin Island, the home of that odd coconut the coco-de mer, the beautiful pure white beaches, a virtual paradise. Next, to another group of Islands, The Maldives, always good for a few parties with the R.A.F, then on to Ceylon ( Sri Lanka )
Colombo what a great city, one or two beers at the G.O.H. considered compulsory by Brocks, a day at the swimming club, a visit to Kandy not to be missed. Lets move on to the old R.N. Base of Trincomalee a good place to check out the ship's lifeboat and cruise around the bay. Next the east coast of India , Madras and Visakhapatnam; watch the ship being loaded with Chrome Ore purely by hand hundreds of workers, with a large type of WOK on their heads, tipping the ore into a Kip ready for the ship to haul aboard, just unbelievable.
Calcutta, what a diverse city. The Hooghly; Brocks had a very apt description of this area, but that’s another story??? The history of this city is amazing, great shopping in the markets, wonderful food, a trip on the Beetel-Juice Express not to be missed, however on the dark side I did not understand the meaning of the word Poverty until I wandered around some of the poor areas, it made me think how lucky I was.
Next a quick visit to East Pakistan ( Bangladesh ) Chittagong & Chalna ; return to Calcutta then off to the U.S A. Bunkers at Aden (dash ashore with evil intent to try and find the guy who sold you the genuine Swiss watch minus the Inca-Block ). Through the Canal and head for Gibraltar.
At this point we have just sailed many thousands of Ks in near perfect weather, the gentle roll of the ship, the quite hum of the turbines the only notable sounds was the gentle clunk of the feed pump, the toll of the watch bells, the day work personnel quietly going about their duty. Those sounds of a steamer in motion gentleman cannot be repeated on any other type of ship and fortunately they live with you forever.
On approaching the Rock the Engine room staff issue the Bridge with instructions to turn sharp right once through the Straits, the Bridge in their infinite wisdom pull rank and head for Savannah. Most of our spare time in the Southern States is used up by cementing diplomatic relations at various bars; good fun, but can be hazardous at times. Lake Charles, Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans, great nights out at the Jazz Clubs.
Move on to Texas, see the old battleship the USS Texas in the middle of a park as we cruise up to the hustle and bustle of Houston. Even the mosquito’s have twin engines in Texas. After five months wondering around the world the ship is in a crisis situation, we have run out of TENNANTS, its time for home and dear old Blighty and a drop of good beer. I have by-passed many ports of call, namely the northern ports of U.S.A. New York, Boston etc on different voyages
Conclusions:
During these two years aboard the MAHANADA the crew hardly changed at all, Brocklebanks treated us well, the pay was good, the food first class, and as for my Ship Mates thank you for the wonderful unforgettable memories, and thank you to Brocklebanks for making it all possible.
Finally any comments on either of these two gentlemen?
1/ Sharky Clark of Seychelles fame. A likeable rogue.
2/ Chief Engineer Tommy Jones, he only did coastal work in my time, he enjoyed a social glass ?????
Ken Carr
Batty Sahib
(Ken and I sailed together on her in 1957.)
SS MAHANADA
After completing five deep sea voyages and many coasting trips between June 1957 & August 1959 as ships Electrician I got to know the Mahanada rather well, a wonderful and exceptionally reliable old ship. In all the voyages I made on her I can only recall one major break down causing loss of time, the Tail End Shaft / Bearing ran out and started to leak rather badly in the middle of the Western Ocean this of course slowed us down considerably, eventually we discharged the cargo in the Southern States and dry docked in Mobile; fitted the spare Tail End Shaft no problems, off we go. I have noted a few comments in Nostalgia that Brocks run was rather poor, I completely disagree so lets do a trip:
First port was nearly always Port Said, ah yes the bum-boats, the search light just to make sure we did not take a short-cut, thence into the Red Sea to Jeddah, half the crew take leave to visit Mecca, In every visit to this Port we always had problems with the fridge system, the brine room always developed an ammonia leak? This had absolutely nothing to do with Jeddah being a dry port,..??. Next, Port Sudan , Massawa, Djibouti, all places of great interest and different cultures, also very warm indeed, and so to Aden, usually for only a few short hours whilst taking bunkers, a little shopping perhaps, a top class German camera? A Swiss watch complete with an inca block wow and all at duty free prices. Next, the most interesting and beautiful places on earth the Seychelles Islands, wonderful friendly happy people visit some of the surrounding Islands; Praslin Island, the home of that odd coconut the coco-de mer, the beautiful pure white beaches, a virtual paradise. Next, to another group of Islands, The Maldives, always good for a few parties with the R.A.F, then on to Ceylon ( Sri Lanka )
Colombo what a great city, one or two beers at the G.O.H. considered compulsory by Brocks, a day at the swimming club, a visit to Kandy not to be missed. Lets move on to the old R.N. Base of Trincomalee a good place to check out the ship's lifeboat and cruise around the bay. Next the east coast of India , Madras and Visakhapatnam; watch the ship being loaded with Chrome Ore purely by hand hundreds of workers, with a large type of WOK on their heads, tipping the ore into a Kip ready for the ship to haul aboard, just unbelievable.
Calcutta, what a diverse city. The Hooghly; Brocks had a very apt description of this area, but that’s another story??? The history of this city is amazing, great shopping in the markets, wonderful food, a trip on the Beetel-Juice Express not to be missed, however on the dark side I did not understand the meaning of the word Poverty until I wandered around some of the poor areas, it made me think how lucky I was.
Next a quick visit to East Pakistan ( Bangladesh ) Chittagong & Chalna ; return to Calcutta then off to the U.S A. Bunkers at Aden (dash ashore with evil intent to try and find the guy who sold you the genuine Swiss watch minus the Inca-Block ). Through the Canal and head for Gibraltar.
At this point we have just sailed many thousands of Ks in near perfect weather, the gentle roll of the ship, the quite hum of the turbines the only notable sounds was the gentle clunk of the feed pump, the toll of the watch bells, the day work personnel quietly going about their duty. Those sounds of a steamer in motion gentleman cannot be repeated on any other type of ship and fortunately they live with you forever.
On approaching the Rock the Engine room staff issue the Bridge with instructions to turn sharp right once through the Straits, the Bridge in their infinite wisdom pull rank and head for Savannah. Most of our spare time in the Southern States is used up by cementing diplomatic relations at various bars; good fun, but can be hazardous at times. Lake Charles, Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans, great nights out at the Jazz Clubs.
Move on to Texas, see the old battleship the USS Texas in the middle of a park as we cruise up to the hustle and bustle of Houston. Even the mosquito’s have twin engines in Texas. After five months wondering around the world the ship is in a crisis situation, we have run out of TENNANTS, its time for home and dear old Blighty and a drop of good beer. I have by-passed many ports of call, namely the northern ports of U.S.A. New York, Boston etc on different voyages
Conclusions:
During these two years aboard the MAHANADA the crew hardly changed at all, Brocklebanks treated us well, the pay was good, the food first class, and as for my Ship Mates thank you for the wonderful unforgettable memories, and thank you to Brocklebanks for making it all possible.
Finally any comments on either of these two gentlemen?
1/ Sharky Clark of Seychelles fame. A likeable rogue.
2/ Chief Engineer Tommy Jones, he only did coastal work in my time, he enjoyed a social glass ?????
Ken Carr
Batty Sahib